Revista Clinica Espanola · Apr 24, 2025

Synergistic factors impacting quality-adjusted life years in the frail elderly population

By Briongos Figuero LS, Miramontes González JP, Gabella Martín M et al.

INTRODUCTION: We aim to analyse which factors predominantly influence the QALYs related to geriatric frailty syndrome (QALYs-frail) in octogenarians. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective observational study of 63 frail octogenarian patients admitted to the medical area. Clinical-demographic variables were collected, as well as quality of life (EuroQoL-5D-5L), nutritional status (MNA-SF), dependence (Barthel scale), comorbidity, and the ADLs related to frailty. Statistical models were carried out to study the association between the different variables and to find predictive factors. RESULTS: Patients with better nutritional status showed a positive correlation with the AVACs-frail (r=0.4, p=0.003), as did patients with a lower degree of dependence (r=0.71, p<0.001). When adding multimorbidity, a significant negative correlation was identified (r=-0.16, p=0.002). The same happened with age (r=-0.43, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Managing fragility poses a challenge, but specific interventions could have an impactful and cost-effective effect on this vulnerable subgroup of the population.

doi.org/10.1016/j.rceng.2025.502297 PubMed 40286907 Populations